8 Horses Killed In Stable Fire: Rowlett Stables Lose Horses In Blaze

Eight horses were killed in a stable fire Saturday night in Rowlett, Texas. The horses were trapped inside a burning barn, CBS Local in Dallas/Fort Worth reports.

The incident happened at about 10:15 p.m. Rowlett Fire Rescue was dispatched to a fire at Rowlett Stables in the 3200 block of Rowlett Road, according to the report.

Eighteen horses in all were inside the stable. Firefighters were able to save 10 of them, but the fire engulfed the structure so aggressively that they couldn’t get to the remaining eight. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the fire.

Speaking with Dallas’ NBC 5 News, Rowlett Fire investigator Eric Zimmerman,says there’s only debris left after the stable fire. In this report, it was mentioned that seven horses were believed to have perished in the tragic barn fire.

“Until we get all the metal roofing off, then we can tell for sure, but I know for sure we have seven [dead],” Zimmerman says.

Firefighters had to deal with a muddy road during their response to the fire. Getting to the stable proved a challenging task for them, and it meant time running out on the clock.

“We had two fire engines actually got stuck on that other road,” Zimmerman explains.

Fire hoses were run about a quarter of a mile to the nearest fire station so water could get to the area. As such, their efforts were hindered somewhat in trying to diminish the blaze. As if that wasn’t enough to put out the blaze, Zimmerman says the barn was like a match stick.

“It’s a lot of hay, a lot of combustibles in the building, so that’s what went up. And hay and everything in there, the tin fell on top of it, so it was a rough time putting it out.”

Stable owners and horse owners are reportedly too emotional to talk about the fire that took some of their horses. It’s hard on those who lost their beloved animals in the fire.

Another barn fire claimed the lives of some horses over the summer, when a blaze in Kentucky hit a stable. The Inquisitr reported on the inferno that took a handful of Thoroughbred race horses. By the time firefighters got to the fire, the barn was practically burned to the ground.

It wasn’t revealed if the horses that died in the stable fire were prized Kentucky winners.

The stable fire remains under investigation.

[Photo Credit: Bryan Titsworth / WFAA]